About Monday in Nature

Since Laura Weishaupt started the Monday in Nature threads four years ago, they have been very popular on this forum. Even though Laura is away for the time being to handle other important issues in her life, I very much would like the tradition to continue. Thanks to Gup last week and Leslie this week for starting the threads. However, I am very much aware that while starting a thread or two seems trivial, it is a major commitment to start the thread every week. Ideally, I mentioned several years ago that it would be best to have some software to start these weekly threads, but that hasn't been implemented yet. With photo.net 2.0, there are obviously higher priorities.

 

If people don't mind, perhaps we can have a system that whoever gets to it can start a thread on Monday. However, please first check to make sure that no new thread exists, and I sure don't want this to become some race to start a thread first. Please continue to use the subject: Monday in Nature with a specific date.

 

As far as image content goes, please continue to observe Photographic Society of America's definition for nature photography: https://psa-photo.org/index.php?nature-nature-definition

Or to make a long story short, please observe the "no hands of men (and women)" rule, not showing signs of human activities. Otherwise, we have plenty of forums on photo.net to show non-nature images.

 

Additionally, to encourage participation, can we try to increase the limit to up to two images per person per week? Laura prefers the limit to be just one image, and I certainly don't want any one person to post 10 images to a thread and dominates it. However, if everybody would like to keep the limit to just one, I am fine with that also.

Since Laura Weishaupt started the Monday in Nature threads four years ago, they have been very popular on this forum. Even though Laura is away for the time being to handle other important issues in her life, I very much would like the tradition to continue. Thanks to Gup last week and Leslie this week for starting the threads. However, I am very much aware that while starting a thread or two seems trivial, it is a major commitment to start the thread every week. Ideally, I mentioned several years ago that it would be best to have some software to start these weekly threads, but that hasn't been implemented yet. With photo.net 2.0, there are obviously higher priorities.

 

If people don't mind, perhaps we can have a system that whoever gets to it can start a thread on Monday. However, please first check to make sure that no new thread exists, and I sure don't want this to become some race to start a thread first. Please continue to use the subject: Monday in Nature with a specific date.

 

As far as image content goes, please continue to observe Photographic Society of America's definition for nature photography: https://psa-photo.org/index.php?nature-nature-definition

Or to make a long story short, please observe the "no hands of men (and women)" rule, not showing signs of human activities. Otherwise, we have plenty of forums on photo.net to show non-nature images.

 

Additionally, to encourage participation, can we try to increase the limit to up to two images per person per week? Laura prefers the limit to be just one image, and I certainly don't want any one person to post 10 images to a thread and dominates it. However, if everybody would like to keep the limit to just one, I am fine with that also.

Voting for keeping the tradition of only one image per week.

Voting for keeping the tradition of only one image per week.

I agree with Mary, let's keep it to one photo.

I agree with Mary, let's keep it to one photo.

I agree with what Mary and Sally said....

Perhaps it can be arranged in advance who will start the thread for the following week

I checked into the participation rate for MiN, and it turns out to have the third highest of any of the 11 weekly threads (at 26 posts/week over the last 7 weeks, compared to 49 for Classic Manual and 29 for Nikon, and well above the 18 for Canon EOS, the next highest ranking thread). Participation rates have recovered to about where they were before the transition. I, too, am partial to the 1-photo limit, both because it already takes me awhile to wander through the 20+ photos posted each week, and because it means I have to be very critical about my own photos to decide which one to post.

 

And I agree with Jon that it would be really good to know ahead of time who’s going to be starting the thread. This morning I was worried I’d post the thread at the same time as someone else, so I opened the site in two windows so I could keep my eye on new posts as I set up the thread. But putting together a weekly schedule or soliciting a weekly volunteer would be a lot of work. How about this: we could have a monthly guest-host who would be responsible for that month’s threads, and we could solicit volunteers several months in advance. That way transitions would be infrequent and smooth, but the commitment for any one person would not be long-term. Do you think that might work?

 

I’d also advocate for a slight loosening of the starting-on-Monday-morning convention. That works great for people starting the thread in the eastern hemisphere and South America, and we know it works for the east coast of N. America since it’s been working well for 4 years. A lot of the posts on Laura’s threads occurred before 6 am Pacific time, though. If west coast, intermountain, and Hawaii people could start the thread on Sunday night, that would have it ready for the rest of the world when Monday arrives. That approach works well for Sanford’s Mirrorless Monday thread.

+1 to Leslie's comments. I would be willing to take a turn, but would need to post on Sunday night due to demands of my day job. Either one or two images per week is OK by me.

One or two posts per week is fine by me. Perhaps make it a max of two and people who only want to post one can do so? I would be willing to take my turn at starting Monday threads and agree that it should be decided in advance, to avoid multiple or worse no thread. I've never been fond of the strictness of enforcement of the psa rules. While I'm okay with them in spirit, an occasional telephone pole shouldn't be such a big deal. That being said I function within the rules and when I have a nature image that shows hand of man that week, I simply do not post until the next week. Thanks for starting this thread Shun as it will hopefully go a long way toward keeping MiN alive.

I vote for only one image per week per member. I think this encourages everyone to submit their best effort.

First of all, on purpose I waited a couple of weeks to start this thread just to observe how Monday in Nature evolves after Laura has taken time off. Again, starting these threads a couple of times is not a big deal. A commitment to do it on time week after week is hard. That is why I never volunteer for it myself. Now it looks like it is going to be a group effort, which is probably easier for everybody, but it means we need some coordination. We need to start a thread per week on time, but we also want to make sure that it is only one thread, not multiple threads. I am sure there may be occasional duplicates; we can always delete the redundant threads.

 

As a trial, by Saturday and Sunday, one person can post towards the end of the current week's thread that he/she is planning to be the "designed thread starter" for the following week. We are all in different time zones anyway; therefore, starting it late on Sunday is fine but please no later than Monday morning in the Americas. And please always use the date for the Monday in the title, e.g. 3rd April 2017 for next week, even though you may actually be starting the thread on the Sunday before.

 

It looks like most people prefer to keep it just one image per week. Therefore, we'll keep it that way for now, but that is a topic we can re-visit later down the road. The first one of these weekly threads on photo.net was Nikon Wednesday. Initially it was also one image per person per week. Later on it evolved into three images per week and was quite successful. At the peak we had well over 100 images per week (more like 120, 130), but that was a digital eternity ago.

 

Again, the purpose for Monday in Nature is to have some fun. Please don't make starting new threads as some kind of race to be the first. Likewise, the "no hands of human" rule is a general guideline since this is the Nature Forum. This is not a photo contest that clearly excludes certain images. I happen to have no trouble producing images that meet such guidelines, but an occasional telephone pole in the distance or some jet trail in the sky is not a big deal. However, if someone posts non-nature images week after week, we'll send a reminder. For example, this mourning dove standing on some barbwire clearly doesn't meet our guidelines.

 

Edited March 28, 2017 by ShunCheung

Shun, I actually stopped being a regular contributor on Nikon Wednesday after the 3 photo option was adopted because personally I thought that looking through up to 120 images every week was cumbersome and often boring. I found looking at some contributions and then two others that often should have been 'outtakes' diluted the thread. Just my own experience, of course.

Shun, I actually stopped being a regular contributor on Nikon Wednesday after the 3 photo option was adopted because personally I thought that looking through up to 120 images every week was cumbersome and often boring. I found looking at some contributions and then two others that often should have been 'outtakes' diluted the thread. Just my own experience, of course.

Not just your own experience. Mine too.

I find it interesting how some contributors self-edit more effectively than others. I like seeing a series of photos that relate to a theme or thread, so long as they are all worthy examples. Even just one image that is less than one's best work seems a waste of my time. Over the time I have been participating here I have come to appreciate the value of everyone's time and interest, and I try to respect them in my submissions. Not sure how successful I have been, but I certainly appreciate the same kind of effort from others. Contrast, then, with those whose posts seem less well considered. Like so many other sites, it can become onerous to sort the wheat from the chaff, but I really appreciate the association I have with so many of you.

"Best work" is a pretty subjective category, and I have no illusion that my submissions here are up to those of some others, but I hope I am at least sticking to the subject. I find the rules acceptable anyway, as there are other places to put the hand of man, and given the pervasiveness of human activity, it's an interesting task to keep it consciously absent sometimes.

My photography is merely a hobby, and certainly not up to par with many out here, but I used to participate in the forum until it seemed there were some cliques forming, and now they've added the 'like' option, which I absolutely 'hate,' because I think that social media standard provides an even greater opportunity for cliques. But I do still visit the forum with some regularity because I enjoy much of the work that is posted. However, I'd like to say with regard to the whole 'hand of man' issue that I think you shortchange your subject matter with such a requirement, and lose the opportunity to display photos that are far more interesting than another shot of a deer against a grove of trees. To me, the interaction between nature and man can be truly amazing, and as far as the wildlife is concerned, they certainly don't know the difference. A snake hidden under a wheel-well in someone's driveway would be a more interesting find than the same snake hidden under a log, at least for me. I realize some say you can post such photos elsewhere, but this forum would provide a singular place to find such shots.

 

Anyway, just my two useless cents, but I'll continue to peruse the posts each week or so regardless, so keep up the good work.

 

As far as who posts each week, my methodology would be to have whomever posts first for the week solicit for and select the volunteer for the next week.

I realize some say you can post such photos elsewhere, but this forum would provide a singular place to find such shots.

 

To me, this forum provides a singular place (as it is the forum with the stringent regulation to refrain from posting obvious human artefacts) to AVOID such shots (apologies for raised voice). I have to live in a human-centric world. I do not have to like it.

I would associate a shot of a snake in a wheel well more with Facebook than Photo.net. Edited April 1, 2017 by Gup

I have to live in a human-centric world.

By singling out humans as the only part of nature that's not allowed in a so-called nature photo, you are perpetuating the myth of the world being human-centric. You are the one asking for special treatment for humankind.

 

I think it's the labeling that's misleading. I have no problem with having a group dedicated to misanthropy or a group of photographers who want to post photos with no humans or human artifacts. Maybe something like Nature, Ltd.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Norma Desmond

By singling out humans as the only part of nature that's not allowed in a so-called nature photo, you are perpetuating the myth of the world being human-centric. You are the one asking for special treatment for humankind.

 

Quite the reverse - the evidence shows that this is not a myth, humans are ubiquitous, and the regulations under which MIN operates excludes images of them and their products. Many other forums accept, tolerate or even encourage such images - MIN does not, and I am profoundly grateful. Humanity is a biological irrelevance, not forming a part of any other species' food chain. Surely this one fact alone serves to separate them from the Natural World.

Folks, once again, since Bob Atkins started this forum in the late 1990's, we have always used the Photographic Society of America's definition for nature photography. If you don't agree with that definition, please find another forum (within photo.net or outside) that meets your objectives.

 

Concerning Monday in Nature, since apparently most people prefer to keep the one image per person per week limit, we are sticking with that. I am not sure that system to have a pre-announced designated Monday thread starter is going to work out. I suppose we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

 

I am closing this thread.

Edited April 1, 2017 by ShunCheung